A group of us dined at Josephine's for the first time a few weeks ago and had a sub-par experience. After talking with the manager, we were invited back to give them another try. Boy am I glad we did! The staff was fabulous, our meals delicious (that spring salmon is divine!), and we left full and happy. Thank you for the redo, Josephine team! We will be back. read more

Came for a snack on Friday night. Sat at the bar. Expresso Martini as amazing. The Fromage cheese plate was also a real treat. Great atmosphere. The best part was the amazing service provided by our bartender Kelvin. He suggested the cheeses and was a true professional. We will be back. read more

Josephine - Fromage 5 cheeses. - French Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Went here for my birthday and such an enjoyable restaurant. Food, service and atmosphere are great! Highly recommended.

It's a new restaurant so we expected some hiccups. No issue with that. Everyone was nice and did their best. And the atmosphere is great. Especially the bar area. But the food needs work. It may want to separate itself from Le Dip, but it shouldn't stray too far. My wife and I had dishes that are all also available at Le Dip: escargots, fois gras, steak frites, and gnocchi. All were just ok and didn't compare. The snails were tender but the butter garlic lacked flavor. The bread also wasn't great. Fois gras again was somewhat bland but it was fine. The steak was cooked well but was not rested before serving. I cut into it and the liquid just poured everywhere. Have to rest it! Also, somewhat bland. The gnocchi was not a dish we would order again. We are local and will return (perhaps just once more) because we want it to be great. But they have to step it up. Embrace your Le Dip roots! Also please save the generic "missed the mark" response from the business. I don't want a free meal. I want an awesome restaurant in my neighborhood. read more

I had brunch here on a Sunday and it was wonderful. The food was delicious -- I had the wagyu tartare, which was super flavorful and cool. For my main I had the brioche French toast and it was amazing. A beautiful vanilla bean cream on top of poached plums, highly recommend! We sat outside on the patio and it was so cute and cozy. The whole vine inside and out was lovely. I had the sundress season cocktail which was very good. Service was great and our server answered all of our questions and was very nice. read more

Josephine - Steak tartare and brioche French toast - French Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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Josephine was an absolutely delight! The ambiance is fantastic with a great menu and drink list that make the experience stand out in the Old Town restaurant scene. Our table ordered several cocktail, the ratatouille, boeuf bourguignon, steak &frites and the gnocchi. Every entree was fantastic and the crème brûlée was a perfect sweet ending to the meal. I was unsure what to expect based on other reviews- but being a very new restaurant I can only assume their service has continually improved as we had excellent service. Our waiter Stephen was personable, accommodating and provided our table with service that was prompt without making it feel rushed. Josephine provided an excellent dinner experience and I look forward to returning. read more

Josephine - Boeuf Bourguignon - French Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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It is a beautiful restaurant and we had a great server who took care of us and offered recommendations that helped with our experience. The steak was a bit overcooked and tough but had nice flavor. We will try again soon. read more

The food was excellent! We went there for my husband's birthday. Matt Cockrell, Executive Chef, came to our table with the oysters and talked about where they came from and how good they were. We split a dozen, and they were great. We also had foie gras for appetizers. Huib had trout almondine, and I had steak poivre. Both dishes were delicious. Huib had a cheese platter, and we also had grand Marnier ice cream for dessert. A couple of ladies next to us shared the many desserts they got from Chef Cockrell. It was a great time! read more

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We requested to sit in the courtyard which was lovely but it was a hot day and there was a truck parked right outside whose loud engine was running for at least 20 mins and made conversation super loud, so we eventually asked to be moved inside. The staff was super accommodating and once inside and started receiving our food, the experience was fantastic, the food was great . read more

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The sauce in the mussels was not made right, the onions were large and not chopped up. We ordered the gnocchi as well and had to send it back. The gnocchi was burnt and tasteless. The manager asked if we wanted to try something else so we tried the Macaroni Au Gratin and the baked part of the dish was overcooked and the macaroni had too much pepper in the seasoning. I would not go back here. I was very disappointed as I like French food and I loved Columbia firehouse when it was here. read more

Josephine - Gnocchi - French Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

I went to Josephine for a Friday lunch. The restaurant decor is very nice and the courtyard tables can be nice if no delivery trucks or garbage pickup on nearby street. As for food, I enjoyed the steak tartare- would get again. The Opera cake dessert was also nice. The salad Josephine looked okay but had a perplexing breaded and fried disk of turned out to be a bland chèvre cheese. Service was okay, though the requested bread was so slow to come we gave up. The menu looks a lot less appealing than it was 12 months ago. Maybe happy hour or dinner are good. read more

I'm not typically one to write reviews, but our experience at Josephine absolutely warrants one. The ambiance is absolutely elegant with the dark wood interior, classy wall scones and natural light coming up from the second-floor dining room window. We came for a birthday and were greeted with a champagne toast upon being seated. Our server Michael was thoughtful and attentive to my dietary needs and made personalized recommendations based on my restrictions. The salad we had as an appetizer was incredibly crisp and fresh. I had the trout for dinner per Michael's recommendation, and it was absolutely impeccable. The portion was especially large, too. Crème brûlée for dessert was truly the cherry on top of a wonderful experience. read more

Top takeaways: Visited on a Friday night during Restaurant Week and felt like we attended their soft opening. With the Chef coming from Le Dip, we were hopeful for a seamless experience. That didn't happen - spend the extra money and head into DC. Meal took 2 hours from seating to the check being dropped - not because we asked for a slow service. Although staff was attentive, the wait times between dishes was extremely inconsistent and ruined the overall experience. The food: No complaints with the bread basket. The butter was flavorful and hit the spot. Started with the ratatouille - great portion, would recommend. I thought this dish was going to set the tone for the evening and I was incredibly excited. For the main, I ordered the wagyu steak frites. I'm 98% sure it was flank steak. I haven't had wagyu that was fibrous, but hey, I didn't cook it. A manager came over and apologized for the wait time and said it was because they had to cook the perfect steak for me. My ears should've perked then. The steak came out 10ish mins later and calling it lukewarm would've been a compliment. The compound butter it was topped with didn't melt until the staff took the plate away. The fries were limp and tasted like they were fresh out of a Five Guys bag. Maybe they were and that's why the meal took so long. For the dessert course I ordered the cream puffs. I thought a French restaurant could hang their hat on pastries. I was wrong. Save your money and buy the box from Costco. Between our mains being dropped, those plates being cleared, and our desserts being given to us, we didn't see our server until they dropped the check. Other staff took care of us for the majority of the night. Oh, can't forget the service charge they add to your bill for their back of house employees. While that charge is disclosed on their full menu (after checking their website when I got home), it's omitted from their RW menu. read more

Came here for our anniversary brunch. The restaurant was so accommodating. We were sat upstairs and had pretty quick attention with excellent wine recommendations. The restaurant has the most trendy French art. It's one of those historical buildings that they have modernized on the inside. I loved the atmosphere. The food was all so yummy. I did a traditional eggs Benedict. My husband had the burger. I would say I should have gotten the burger because once I tasted it, I just wanted more. We still had a half bottle of wine and asked the server if we could sit on the stunning outside patio. Once we moved there, which I'm sure was super annoying to our server, they even turned on the heaters for us and brought us dessert. I'm very impressed with the service, the food, the wine selections, and the upscale yet affordable brunch spot. I'll be back for sure! read more

Always good food, excellent service, and if you can, try to get seated in the atrium for maximum ambiance.

My husband and I came here for a date night during restaurant week. The seating was quick and friendly. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly as well. For restaurant week we put all of our choices in at once. I decided to change my dessert order, which was forgotten by our waitress which led to it being sold out. She and the manager were very nice and apologetic about the situation. They took a round of drinks off our bill which was really nice. The onion soup was 8/10 (you MUST love onions). The cheese board was 9/10. The mussels were delicious, 9/10. The creme brulee was amazing, 10/10. The cream puffs weren't my my favorite, 6/10. read more

This place is a joke lololol terrible service. The waiter doesn't know how to anticipate a guests needs. Doesn't know how to pace a meal. I have been sitting here for nearly two hours. Ordered French onion soup. It was disgusting lol. Entirely too salty and a thick layer of cheese that had cooled down prior to it being delivered to me so there was no cheese pull or melted cheese just thick chewy cheese. I couldn't finish the soup. Ordered the seared salmon and it came out medium rare in the center and I don't eat rare fish so I sent it back. By this point I was over it and lost my appetite. Two misfires back to back with food is just annoying. Not to mention - The server didn't even send our entrees to the kitchen until he collected our plates from the first course. We sat and waited for 20 minutes while our second course was prepared. That is not how you course a meal. The manager came by after they server took my plate and didn't even introduce himself. Asked how the meal was and I had to inquire if he was an manager or not. His attitude sucked. Entirely too persnickety. Made faces at me the entire time as I'm expressing what I disliked. Then when he had the nerve to drop off the check and said to me "I took care of your dinner" lol like WHAT DINNER? I didn't eat?? Lmao I will never come back here or recommended this business. read more

We had a lovely evening meal at Josephine (celebrating our 30th anniversary). Michael, our waiter was attentive without being obsequious. His timing was impeccable. He was friendly and well informed about the menu. My husband had the steak frites, cooked medium rare. They were perfectly cooked according to him. I had the gnocchi, which was a bit sauce heavy but good nonetheless. I also had a perfect old fashioned. Dessert was an ile flottante for me and the opera cake for hubs. A special treat from the restaurant was a small slice of cake and champagne! The ambience is cozy and inviting. I loved the multilevel dining/drinking options. Thanks to Marcie and Rob (whom we met Sunday morning after church) for the recommendation. Too bad this neighborhood gem isn't in Our town! read more

I am already turned off by the service and I have not eaten. I walked in and asked for seating for one and the hostess looked at me like I was out of place, then started stuttering gibberish. Fumbling on her words intelligibly, I then asked her if they were at capacity? Still she was "uhming" and making absolutely no sense. I then suggested are you at capacity if so i can head to the bar (despite clearly being over dressed). Then she looked relieved and said yeah either the bar or bar tops are available. That's when I realized their game- they weren't trying to put one person at a table and were only seating groups at the tables. I followed up with another question by saying are you directing me to the bar or are bar seats the only available... her silence and shocked look on her face answered my question. I sat at the bar confused as to whether I want to spend money at an establishment that didn't care about the customer experience. But they are a French restaurant and I am craving crime brûlée after my meal so I caved. The food was decent and paired with horrible experience with customer service, I don't believe I will be back. All of the Black servers were extremely welcoming and polite, as was Hailey the bartender. That hostess should and could take a hospitality cure from them. Even weirder she spent the entire time staring at me which made me very uncomfortable. read more

Josephine - Can never go wrong with Lox but the cubed boil egg did it for me! - French Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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Josephine is in a really beautiful restaurant, but I'm not sure why they aren't using the prettiest rooms. We went in for lunch on a weekday and it looked like they were closed because the whole front room was empty. I was initially thrown off by the decor because they have all these tacky, fake flowers on the table, but the food and service are solid. I enjoyed the extremely tasty French dip, but would have preferred if the menu mentioned that it had cheese in it The trout almondine was delicious as well. I'd come back. read more

The service was good, everyone was nice, a bit slow but it's ok. Now onto why it's a 2 star- the food was not great. The escargot and French onion soup are both quite salty. I only ate the cheese on top of the onion soup bc it was the non salty part, the cheese was fresh! The escargot didn't taste fresh, seasoning was subpar and also salty, I had to combine it with pickled onion from a different appetizer to make the taste more mellow. My fiancé's steak frites was also disappointing. The French fries tasted stale. The steak cut was very very chewy. It tried a piece and couldn't finish it. Overall, it was a very sad and disappointing meal. We left feeling unsatisfied. It was a sad meal for me. read more

Josephine has been on my list of restaurants to try since we moved to Alexandria this past spring. I hear about it all the time from new friends and clients. It is deceiving from the outside as it does not look as big and grand as it is on the inside. Even if you can just pop in for cocktails just to sit within this beautiful restaurant would be worth it. When I saw that they were participating in restaurant week I immediately booked a reservation. I started with the Butternut Squash Soup, and I will now always add pumpkin seeds to mine when I make it at home-loved the crunch of that touch. Being a Julia Childs fan I absolutely had to order the Boeuf Bourguignon-I am a small portion eater, so the amount was perfect for me. The service is outstanding. We will definitely be back! read more

I really like this place. Yes, it's big, busy, and loud but it's fun. Everyone enjoyed their drinks and wine. The appetizers were good. I loved the Boeuf Bourguignon. Everyone really enjoyed their main courses except the vegetarian. The gnocchi dish was drowning in a cream sauce. Desserts were really good! read more

This restaurant serves classic French nicely seasoned, presented and served, the building is unique, an old fire house. not drafty or industria, more old fashioned and fun. read more

Highly NOT recommended for large groups-the kitchen and/or staff really struggle to figure out the timing (2hrs 15min until entrees were delivered, maybe this is the French way?) We were sat downstairs and the acoustics are atrocious, getting very loud as everyone is trying to speak over each other. Note, my experience may be very different from a couple or small group, I don't think I could force myself to come back to find out though. read more

Amazing French Cuisine! Perfect for Brunch on a summer day. The service was great and the atmosphere was beautiful as well. Will be coming again. read more

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Enjoyed the summer restaurant week menu and everything we had was delicious! Duck confit, steak frites, foie gras mousse, onion soup and cream puff dessert - all amazing and perfectly cooked. Highly recommend and will be back! read more

Just adding a video of the complimentary champagne they offered me and a group of my girlfriends! Been for both brunch and dinner and both are incredible! Love all of the servers as well! read more

Love this place. Beautiful ambience. Delicious food - brunch is on point! Server was very sweet and patient with us, as we had a couple of tweens in our party who were having difficulty deciding what to order. read more

After sharing my experience of a different French restaurant in the DMV, my colleague suggested that I should try Josephine's and I did. Atmosphere - was great, seating was amazing, intimate, and romantic due to the skylit atrium. Service - our waiter, Frank was not very attentive. Once he served the water, bread and salad, he disappeared for 20 minutes. I dropped my napkin, waited for him to reappear before I finished my salad but he did not therefore I was forced to ask a server for a napkin, she never brought it then I embarrassly asked a waitress from separate table and she obliged immediately. Frank reappeared, took my salad and bread plates but left my friend's empty bread plate on the table. Food- my beet salad was amazing and my friend enjoyed the Josephine salad. My trout almondine was luke warm and a bit bitter, the skin on the trout was flimsy not well-cooked, nor well-seasoned and it was topped with maybe 6 slivers of almonds. I took it home as a doggie bag, removed the skin and seasoned it. Based on my previous order of Trout Almondine from the different French restaurant, I know what to expect and this did not meet my expectations. I will give Josephine's another visit and order a different item but last night's experience left more to be desired. read more

I had the pleasure of visiting Josephine's upstairs bar this weekend. I have visited downstairs many times but until now never upstairs. Upstairs is a real treat. It's quieter and more secluded with only a handful of seats. The bartender Nick was amazing. He took his time to recommend food and made me an amazing old fashioned from scratch. Not only was the drink delicious but he took the time to talk me through each bourbon selection and how it enhanced the experience. This guy knows what he is talking about! The smaller space allows for more conversation and personalized service. Not just for me but everyone at the bar. I couldn't help but listen to him talk my neighbors through classic gin cocktails. In a time where things can feel so rushed and mass produced it was refreshing to slow things down a bit. As always Josephines food was delicious. Im especially a fan of the trout and steak tartare. I will certainly be back! read more

My first time visiting this establishment. My son made reservations for Mother's Day dinner. We were seated on time and the restaurant is gorgeous-- we were dining in the atrium area. The food was plentiful and delicious! Our waitress was courteous and attentive. Even the manager approached each table to inquire about the food, service, etc. They gave all of the guest a box of macarons when departing. read more

Great food, great ambience, great service! Love their cheese selection and works great for business lunches !

Why does this place get so many stars? My guess is that it's Old Town and there's limited options when it comes to a certain type of food. I've tried it 3 times over the course of the last year or so. First time - good food and good service. Second time - good food and terrible service to the point where I watched my order sit at the window for so long I eventually got up and got it myself (which is when someone finally appeared). No apology, nada. I timed it at roughly 16 min of watching it sit. Third time - steak frites had a gristly texture. Decent fries. Server forgot to put in our order of another drink round (we only had 1 round and was a table of 3). He did apologize and he did take the drinks off the final bill which was the right thing to do. However, we sat for a long time. A very long time and the food just wasn't very good. It's also frustrating to see MANY staff members standing around when our one server was clearly very busy and doing his best. Then we received a "gift card" to come back again and it's blank and there's no way to scan the QR code so it was basically just a way to attempt to placate us without actually doing anything which isn't great. I won't be back unfortunately. read more

Highly impressed with Josephine, to the point of it being on my favorite restaurants list! I went for brunch and did a tasting menu approach. Selected the lox dish (plated for the perfect bite), escargot, butternut squash soup, French onion soup and beets and Burrata. The food quality, presentation and taste was excellent! Not to mention the cocktail and bubbly selection were extensive. I live in DC and will absolutely be back. read more

Josephine - Lox - French Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Mediocre not worth it. Tried multiple courses but unfortunately none of them were worth it. Service was OK.

This was the first month the restaurant was open (mid-2023). Distinctly average. Inconsistent service, tough steak, and despite reservations, we were tucked in a dark corner under a staircase. Staff were friendly which helped bump this from a 2 to a 3. Might go back for cocktails, stay tuned! read more

Spectacular experience in a breathtakingly sumptuous environment. The multi level restaurant serving French classics and interesting cocktails more than met expectations. The beauty of the restaurant makes it worth the trip. The food+ beverages will make you glad you came. read more

Excellen! What an ahhh-mazing dining experience my family and I had Friday night, 12/22. Thanks to Lenny and his incredible team! The service was 5 Star! The food deliciously on point! The ambience stellar! I am already planning my next outing!! Outstanding flavors and dish presentation. I could go on and on!! Thank you!! Best restaurant in the area read more

The food was great and prepared as requested. Favorite was the beet salad. Our waiter was knowledgeable and friendly. Quick to refill water but slow on bringing the bill. Our party of four was seated at a large round table and acoustics were great. read more